


Fight or Flight

by catisacat



Category: Watch Dogs (Video Games)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-16
Updated: 2017-11-15
Packaged: 2019-01-18 04:20:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12380781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catisacat/pseuds/catisacat
Summary: Marcus wants to learn to fight in order to better infiltrate Blume and delete his ctOS file after being wrongly accused and prosecuted for a crime he didn't commitTurning to an app intended to match people up for fights, he matches and meets with an eccentric weirdo in a mask who seems much more interested in being his new best friend than trying to beat the crap out of him.The two men end up having more in common than they thought they would.





	1. FITE ME

**Author's Note:**

> It's my party and I'll do two different semi-longfics for the same fandom if I want to.
> 
> This is absolutely based on that hoax app about finding someone local to fight. Yes, this concept is very far flung because why wouldn't smart Marcus just join a karate class? But this is a story written by dumb Cat so let's just go with it.
> 
> Also I'm trying to branch outside my safety box which includes learning to write fight scenes better.

Marcus had felt stupid downloading the app but he felt even stupider showing up to fight a complete stranger.

Honestly, Marcus didn’t really even know what possessed him to do this. I mean, he kinda did. What happened to him is bullshit and he wants to infiltrate Blume and delete it from his record. But when he really sat and thought about it, he felt like a dumbass. He’d never fought anyone in his entire life.

But learning to fight was the first step. Well the first step had been to learn to hack, which he already had done when he was younger. So this was the next one. The second one, if you will.

FITE ME. A stupid name for a stupid app. Meet locals in your area who want to fight.

Marcus had had no criteria for what he was looking for but he’d rejected a hell of a lot of people. Mostly ones who looked like they could kick the shit out of him but he’d turned down a few he was mildly concerned he’d seriously hurt as well.

Eventually he’d settled on a weirdo going by “Wrench.” Reasoning? He was much taller than Marcus but scrawny as hell. He wore punk clothing including a mask and when you’re trying that hard to look tough, you’re probably not an actual badass.

Now he was standing in a warehouse, waiting for a freak in a mask to show up.

“This is how a damn fool gets his kidney stolen,” Marcus mumbled to himself, echoing in the massive empty building.

Saying it out loud, Marcus felt stupider than ever. And a little scared. Jesus, what if this guy really did want to steal his kidney? The dude had set the location so far out of the way. Marcus hadn’t even brought a weapon.

So he was meeting a random freak who openly conceals his identity in an abandoned warehouse, by himself, and he didn’t bring any sort of weapon should this go south. Oh, and also he hadn’t told anyone where he was going.

He should leave. He should leave right fucking now.

Turning around, Marcus power walked towards the door calling himself a stupidass over and over in his head.

But when he went to step out through the cracked open door, he collided into a particularly spiky chest hard enough to send both of them on their asses. Marcus groaned as he pushed himself up while distorted laughter seemed too loud in the empty warehouse. Great, this is how Marcus Holloway dies. Stabbed to death in an abandoned hellhole.

The other man was on his feet much faster, reaching a hand out to Marcus and asking, “What the fuck was that? A sneak attack? That’s how you’re gonna start this?”

Looking up at him, Marcus immediately realized not only did the mask light up but the man could change the expression on it. Currently a chipper ‘^ ^’ was looking down at him.

Instinctively, Marcus took the hand and was pulled to his feet. Surprised the guy was even trying to brush dirt off him, he tried to come up with an excuse, “Just, uh, thought you weren’t coming. Got some other stuff to do tonight, figured I’d get on it.”

“Yeah, sorry, traffic,” the guy said, jerking a thumb towards a extremely beat-up truck outside, “So if you’ve got shit to do, so let’s get down to business. To defeat- buh, buh- the huns!”

With an arm around Marcus’s shoulder the man started dragging him back inside, considerably feeling less concerned considering how harmlessly weird this guy seemed Marcus asked, “So like… have you done this before?”

“Fought someone or fought someone from this app thingy?” he asked, “I don’t know why I’m asking for clarification because either way the answer is no.”

“Me either, both accounts,” Marcus nodded, “And uh, my name’s Marcus. If that matters. I don’t know, I feel kinda weird fighting someone not knowing their name so you’re?”

“I’m just my username. Wrench. That’s what everyone calls me.”

“Odd name,” Marcus noted, “You’re a… pretty secretive guy, right?”

He was pointing at the mask which Wrench had to nod to, “Yeah, pretty much.”

“Well, should we talk… rules?” Marcus asked, “Because I’m not looking to get dickpunched.”

“What, not your kink?” Wrench said, shaking his head, “Well shit, my secret convoluted plan to get someone to literally beat the meat with me has failed.”

“You know this is a meetup from a fighting app not a dating one, right?” Marcus laughed.

When they reached about halfway into the warehouse when Wrench took his arm off Marcus’s shoulders, holding him at about arm’s length before stepping back with this hands on his hips. Even with the mask it was obvious the man was giving him a very thorough up-and-down evaluation.

Marcus gestured to Wrench’s clothes, “You’re taking that shit off by the way.”

Wrench tilted his head with a ‘? ?’ lighting up his mask, “I thought we just established that this was a fighting app not a dating app? Now you’re asking me to strip?”

“I ain’t fist fighting someone who’s covered in spikes. You might as well be wearing armor, man.”

“I don’t take my mask off,” Wrench said flatly, obliging taking off his vest though. Tossing it on a box resulted in a thundering clatter of metal on wood.

“Fine, fine, but if you don’t take off the mask you’re not allowed to punch me in the face either.”

“Whaaat? It’s not like I was gonna hit a guy in glasses.”

“You are,” Marcus said, trying not to smile, “You literally came here to punch a guy in glasses.”

“I know but you’re not doing a great job at making me want to,” Wrench said, “I thought you were gonna be douchier.”

“Why the hell did you think I was gonna be douchier from just a pic? You’re not makin’ it hard for me to wanna fight you right now.”

“Oh, come on! You were doing duck lips and a peace sign and dressed like a fucking hipster.”

“What, you don’t like my fox sweater? It’s a cute sweater.”

“I don’t trust animals.”

“You’re a weird dude, you know that?” Marcus said, giving him a look.

“Good! Good! C’mon keep that up!” Wrench said, gesturing at Marcus for more, “Make me wanna fight you.”

Marcus paused at that, looking Wrench up and down, “Man, I don’t even know where to start.”

“Good!” Wrench nodded, “My turn. I hate your stupid ugly hipster glasses, I bet you can’t see two inches in front of your face without ‘em.”

“You dress like a hobo that wandered into a punk festival but, despite attempting to blend in, still got thrown out,” Marcus said, pointing accusingly.

Wrench was laughing but still tried another jab, “Man, you look like such a geek I bet the other nerds shoved you in the locker before the jocks even could.”

“The 1970’s called. They want their shitty, tryhard fashion sense back.

“Knock knock? Who’s there? Loser. Loser who? Loser who downloaded an app just to get his ass kicked in.”

“This makin’ you angry, dude?” Marcus asked with a crooked smile on his face, “Because I’m just kinda amused.”

“Yeah, just… fuck it, let’s just go on the count of three?” Wrench asked, “Before I start liking you too much to throw down.”

Marcus nodded, “Alright.”

In unison they counted down, “One. Two. Three.”

With a grunt, Marcus was knocked on his back by the sudden force of Wrench pouncing at him and tackling him to the ground.

It was immediately obvious Wrench intended to use his height and weight advantage to its fullest. Wrench was pinning him, sitting on his stomach, holding down one of his shoulders and delivering a punch to the other.

Stopping his next punch by grabbing his wrists, Marcus managed to throw him off. A clattering of plastic on concrete as he landed face first on the ground. Er, mask first.

He tried to roll away from Marcus but was already on his feet, nailing a kick to his ribs that sent Wrench reeling. Coughing, Wrench took a swing at Marcus that went completely awry and missed him by a mile.

But Marcus did the exact same thing, completely whiffing as shot at Wrench’s chest. Stumbling forwards, Marcus found his back facing Wrench.

A kick was aimed at him but Marcus managed to dodge it and grab the offending leg. He elbowed Wrench hard and sent him flying backwards. Before Marcus could turn around and capitalize on that he was suddenly struck in the face by Wrench’s foot as he toppled.

Swearing, Marcus hit the ground like a sack of potatoes next to his combatant.

Looking over, Marcus was mildly terrified by the fact Wrench was gasping for breath, “Shit, man, you okay?”

It was even less comforting that despite what he previously said, Wrench was frantically trying to get the mask off as fast as possible. The gasping got a little less panicked when he succeeded but he was still having trouble breathing as he managed to choke out, “Knocked… the… wind… out… of… me…”

The mask still on the ground next to him, Marcus got his first real look at Wrench. Pasty face bright red from heat and stress leading up into what he assumed must be a birthmark that was even more red. Blonde hair, blue eyes, prominent nose, odd jawline. After Wrench caught his breath he came to his senses, not even looking over at Marcus before quickly putting the mask back on.

“You… you didn’t see that,” Wrench said, quieter than before. Voice still raspy from being out of breath.

Marcus nodded, “Didn’t see what?”

“Me without my ma- wait, no, got the joke. I got it,” Wrench said, finally looking over at Marcus. His mask went from ‘x x’ to ‘o o’ as he scooted over to him, grabbing his face, “Fuck, you’re bleeding!”

“Yeah, somebody kicked me in the face when we said no face shots,” Marcus joked, a smile making his split lip drip blood on the ground.

“Shit… dude, I’m sorry,” Wrench said as he examined the injury with a ‘/ \’ on his mask.

“It’s alright man but this is just… really stupid,” Marcus said, laughing again, “You wanna ditch this dumbass plan and go get a drink? I passed a bar on the way here that didn’t look too dismal.”

“That sounds great,” Wrench nodded, “I’ll follow you.”

\- - -

The bar was a very quiet one, a little hipster for at least one of their tastes.

But as they were left alone in a corner with their beers, it suited their needs just fine.

Idle chit chat occupied Marcus’s first couple beers and Wrench’s fairly alarming number of beers. He was still chugging them when he started questioning Marcus about the meetup and using FITE ME. Slightly slurred.

“So how’d a nice, well adjusted guy like you end up getting kicked in the face by a homeless, white trash asshole like me?”

“Wait, you’re actually homeless?” Marcus replied as he remembered his previous jab, “I’m uh… I wouldn’t have called you a hobo if I’d known that.”

“Didn’t upset me, don’t worry about it. My truck’s a comfy enough house,” Wrench brushed it off, “But I’m still curious why you were even using the app?”

“Look… I know this sounds crazy but I also think you’re probably a little crazy so maybe you’ll get it,” Marcus said, scratching the back of his head, “But… ctOS basically framed me for a crime and I got prosecuted on their faulty information. I wanna break in and erase that from my records. I already got the hacking part down pat I just… need to be ready to take down any security they might throw at me.”

Marcus jumped as Wrench banged his hands on his table with an emphatic, “Dude! Me too!! Not… not the being framed part or erasing my non-existent file but- but the hacking and the taking down Blume and ctOS stuff! That’s why I did this too!!”

Recovering, Marcus looked skeptical, “Really? That’s… oddly specific.”

Wrench grabbed one of Marcus’s hands in both of his, “No, dude, I am not fucking with you. Absolutely, one hundred percent, I wanted to learn to fight to start trying to infiltrate and take down these fucking corporations!”

“Shit, no fooling?” Marcus looked shocked, “That is one hell of a coincidence.”

Wrench was still holding onto his hand but was leaning over the table now too, spiked mask closer to Marcus’s face than entirely comfortable, “No, no, no, this was fate. We were supposed to meet tonight, we’re supposed to do this together. This isn’t going to be a one time thing. You and me? We’re gonna learn to fight together and then we’re gonna kick Blume’s ass together.”

Marcus felt like he should probably be put off by how aggressively forward this borderline stranger was being with him but he just… wasn’t. Clapping his other hand over one of Wrench’s he leaned forward too, “Let’s do it, man.”

\- - -

They didn’t stay much longer considering how quickly Wrench was becoming rowdy as he got drunker and drunker. Marcus eventually paid their tab and got Wrench’s arm around him to haul him out, stopping by the hostess to ask if it’d be okay for the other man’s truck to stay here until tomorrow.

Despite the purple haired scene chick rolling her eyes at him, she eventually sighed and said, “Alright, whatever. But if it’s still here by tomorrow night I’m calling a tow truck.”

At that, Marcus thanked her and carried his new and way too drunk friend to his car and got him strapped in. Of course, he realized exactly how insane it was to be bringing home a completely trashed, borderline stranger but honestly what hadn’t he done today that wasn’t pants-on-head dumb as fuck?

When Marcus got him inside, Wrench was happily lolling his head against his chest and mumbling something about them being best friends.

Eventually, he got him to lay down on his couch long enough to find a blanket. Wrench’s excitability died down a bit when he was handed the bedding. For the second time today Marcus saw something supposedly rare. Wrench took the mask off again and set it on the coffee table, quickly followed by his vest and… pants.

Dear god, Marcus really hoped this guy doesn’t sleep naked.

But Wrench seemed to be content sleeping his his hoodie and boxers, wrapping himself up in the borrowed comforter and rolling over with a sleepy, “Nighty night.”

“Night, man,” Marcus said, shaking his head in bewilderment at the situations today had contained, “Hope you’re not too hungover tomorrow.”


	2. Failure to Launch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a weird morning, Marcus and Wrench set up a schedule for learning to fight.
> 
> But it starts to dawn on them that they can't do it alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i really should come up with notes for these chapters more often but with five chapters/one-shots a week it's like "what haven't i said yet?" lol

As Marcus blinked awake the next day it slowly dawned on him that he wasn’t alone in his bed.

Panic set in. Jerking away from whoever was pressed against him, Marcus looked over in horror. He calmed down as he saw the man lying there, dead asleep and snoring. Remembering last night’s events.

Right, okay, that’s Wrench. You let him sleep on your couch. This strange man is supposed to be in your house.

But honestly he had some concerns about this turn of events.

Grabbing the man’s thin arm, Marcus shook him awake, “Hey. Hey, Wrench. Wake the fuck up.”

While usually a comatose sleeper, Wrench woke up pretty quick. He looked completely and utterly confused, not to mention mildly alarmed, at his unfamiliar surroundings.

Looking up at Marcus he calmed down, “Oh thank, I haven’t been kidnapped again.”

“No, you haven’t,” Marcus said, letting go of his arm as well as the fact he just implied he’s been kidnapped before, “But you did end up in my bed, care to explain?”

“Shit, man, I’m sorry,” Wrench said, pushing himself up to sit at the edge of the bed, “I sleepwalk, like, a lot. I try to warn people if I’m staying over beforehand but you know.”

He mimed downing a bottle of beer. And then another. And then another.

Marcus was honestly relieved by that, “So what you’re saying is if you ever sleep over again I should lock my bedroom door?”

“What, you didn’t like snuggling with me? Breaking my heart here, man.”

“Hey, take me out to dinner first,” Marcus joked back.

Wrench was quiet for a second, scratching awkwardly at his face as he started to get self concious, “So, uh, where are we going from here?”

“Well. We fought each other in an abandoned warehouse, got super drunk, then apparently cuddled last night so I’m pretty sure you’re my new best friend,” Marcus smiled.

The grin Marcus got in return was so blindingly genuine it threw him off, Wrench cheerily asking, “Really?”

“Well, yeah, do you remember telling me it was fate that we met and that we’re gonna take down Blume together?”

“Not in the slightest,” Wrench replied, flicking his pointer finger at Marcus, “Please tell me that didn’t come out of nowhere and I told you for a reason and also please tell me you’re not going to report me to authorities.”

“No, no, we just joined the app for the same weirdly specific reason.”

“Oh thank god, I wouldn’t make it in prison.”

“And, uh, you kinda told me some other stuff too.”

Wrench looked concerned, “Yeah?”

Marcus himself seemed a little surprised at his own offer, “Look, I know this is crazy but you told me you’re sleeping in your car and, well, if you want my couch is open.”

“Really?” Wrench said, surprised, “Like, you woke up being spooned by me and you’re genuinely okay with me stay here?”

“Eh, fuck it,” Marcus shrugged, “What do I have to lose?”

\- - -

Helping his new friend move what little he owned into the house was weird.

Marcus was starting to wonder if something was wrong with him.

Installing a fighting app. Meeting someone for a fight. Accidentally actually hurting each other. Going for drinks. Promising to fight a massive corporation together. Inviting him over. Offering for this weird homeless guy who he literally just fought in an abandoned warehouse from an app to live with him.

But as he hauled in the last box of electronics into the apartment somehow he felt like he was making the right choice, as buckwild of a choice as it was.

Placing it on the ground in the small computer room, Marcus looked back at Wrench, “So, do you have any actual plans for going after Blume?”

“No, not really,” Wrench admitted, “I’m not really a ‘plan’ guy. I’m more of a ‘just do it’ guy.”

Marcus laughed as Wrench did the Shia LaBeouf ‘just do it’ move, “Great, so we’re starting at nothing. Other than we’ve clearly got to learn to fight.”

“Should I start randomly accosting you when you go for midnight snacks?” Wrench said, hopping and popping Marcus one on the shoulder.

“You sure the fuck shouldn’t unless you wanna be going right back to living in your fuckin’ truck,” Marcus smirked.

“What, don’t like the element of surprise?” Wrench said, wiggling his fingers at him.

“Not if it comes in the form of a scrawny dude tryin’ to kick my ass in my own home,” Marcus replied, “Plus I also would really like to not be kicked out of my apartment. That’d just end up in both of us sleeping in your truck. Get real fuckin’ cozy.”

“So are we just… gonna go back to the warehouse then, I guess? Practice there if we can’t fight here?” Wrench asked.

“I think that’s our best shot,” Marcus nodded, “Maybe go twice a week?”

“Are you ready for me to kick your ass that often?” Wrench said, dropped into a mock fighting stance.

“Like to see you try, chickenshit,” Marcus smirked, easily blocking a mock punch.

\- - -

Marcus almost was starting to wonder if Wrench was just fucking with him, faking having the same interests.

He’d expected to find Wrench more and more an unrelatable weirdo but the more they hung out the more that seemed to have in common. But Wrench couldn’t be faking these interests, his knowledge of them was too immediate and thorough.

Like… when Marcus had pulled out his collection of Jimmy Siska movies he’d expected to be mocked, not for the other man to be elated and demand his favorite.

He could have compiled a list of all the weird little shit they had in common.

Speaking of lists, he’d caught Wrench making one as they watched one of the movies.

Leaning over, he’d seen that his weird new friend was marking down stunts and moves with little labelled stick figures.

He wasn’t sure what the purpose of that was until a couple days later when they were in the warehouse again and Wrench pulled out the diagrams, “You lookin’ forward to doing some cool shit?”

“So that’s what your weird lil ass was doing,” Marcus laughed, “I wondered why you were writing things down.”

Looking at the cheap, worn out mats they’d found in the back of the abandoned building, Marcus felt glad they had spotted them. Won’t bash their heads open doing dumb shit. Last thing Marcus wanted was for his obituary to say ‘local idiots dies in Jimmy Siska themed stunt, second local idiot on run for negligence.’

It didn’t help that while Wrench seemed to accept not wearing his mask in the house he strapped it on the second they left. Made him stand out like a sore thumb. The obituary would probably list Marcus himself as the ‘local idiot’ and Wrench as ‘terrifying masked freak.’

Disregarding that, they set about their work.

The next hour or two was spent dumbly trying to do backflips and roundhouses, usually getting themselves smacked around more than doing any damage to each other.

Very little was getting accomplished unless you count doing bad Siska impersonations while wrestling on a gross mat they found as accomplishing something. Marcus and Wrench didn’t seem to mind though, laughing their asses off the whole while.

This was how the next week proceeded the same, as well.

By the third meeting in the abandoned warehouse, Marcus really was considering Wrench his best friend. Not only were they having a blast “learning to fight” but he was actually a fun roommate.

Really the only sticking point was the fact Wrench really was a prolific sleepwalker and despite Marcus’s joke about locking his bedroom he actually didn’t have a lock for it. Most nights, nearly all, ended with Wrench smushed up against him as he snored the night away. Good thing Marcus is a pretty heavy sleeper too.

But, all things considered, Marcus was really, genuinely loving Wrench’s company.

A weird thing to think when someone is putting you into a headlock but Marcus was talking calmly to him, “Hey, Wrench, can I run something by you?”

“You can run it by me if you can get out of this sick headlo-” Wrench said with a ‘\ /’ as Marcus easily dropped out of it, “Well, alright, lay it on me.”

“I think we should expand this operation,” Marcus said, leaning against one of the pillars.

“I’m listening,” Wrench said, mirroring him on another.

“Well, as much I enjoy rolling around with you while spouting action movie lines we’re not getting any closer to being able to infiltrate Blume.”

“So, what we try to recruit people?” Wrench asked.

“Yeah, like, pass out some fliers, get some people, maybe find some people willing and able to help our cause.”

“Like a super nerdy fight club!”

“Isn’t fight club, like, full of homoerotic tension and toxic masculinity?”

“What, wasn’t it already full of massive amounts of homoerotic tension?” Wrench said with a digital wink.

“Is that you finally admitting to popping a boner while we were wrestling?”

“I told you that was my keys!” Wrench blinked a ‘\ /’ at him.

“I know what keys feel like, that wasn’t no fuckin’ keys,” Marcus held out a hand, laughing.

“Well, you still willingly wrestle with me so here we are,” Wrench retorted, looking away and crossing his arms.

“Hey, didn’t say I didn’t like it,” Marcus winked, “Just said it wasn’t your keys.”

“Joking aside,” Wrench replied, “Should we design a flyer?”

“Already ahead of you,” Marcus said, pulling a few sheets of paper out of a backpack he’d brought with. After that, a few sharpies. Lying down on the mat on their stomach like children during art time in kindergarten, they started drafting a few flyers.

After a few minutes Wrench held up his first attempt. On top of the contact info and basics, Wrench had drawn cutesy little doodles of the two of them. Pointing at it, “I drew you and me on it so everyone would know we’re best friends.”

“Hey, awesome, I drew us too but I drew you with a boner to let people would know what’s up,” Marcus said, pointing at that.

“Wow, you are really focused on my dick today,” Wrench said, propping his head up on his bands with another winky face, “Before inviting people here, maybe we should christen this place with our love.”

“You know, I’ve made a lot of questionable choices in my life but ‘bang a dude in an abandoned warehouse’ is not one I’m gonna gonna be one of the ones I make.”

“Really? It’s on my bucket list for fucking. My fucket list.”

“Why did I befriend you again?” Marcus asked.

“Because I’m a charming, sexy, hilarious delight who brightens up your life?”

“Yeah that sounds vaguely in the realm of correct.”

For the next couple hours they drafted flyer after flyer, with varying amounts of homoerotic content drawn on them, until they finally settled on one that was informative, eye catching and didn’t have any dicks drawn on it.

The rest of the day was spent taping these up around down. Wrench loved zipping around on Marcus’s bike with him, jumping off and slapping the posters up on anything he could fit it on. Telephone poles, mailboxes, doors, windows.

For a while, Marcus and Wrench happily thought this plane was going to work. Bright and happy every time the phone rang in hopes it was a new member, showing up to the meetings early in case anyone else ever showed up.

But a month later, all that hope had been beaten out of them.

Sighing, Marcus and Wrench just laid on their backs on the dirty mats. Head to head.

“So, you wanna try to do that backflip off the wall?” Wrench asked.

“Nah, I’m just not feelin’ it tonight,” Marcus said.

“You sad no one's showing up too?”

Wrench could feel Marcus’s head nodding as he spoke, “I just… how the hell we going to do this alone? No one’s coming.”

As if on cue they both jumped as the door started creaking and clanging open. Rolling over they were just in time to see two new people walk in, neither of which they recognized. A shorter woman in an oversized sweater with her long black hair dyed purple on the ends and a tall man in a green hoodie who really didn’t look comfortable being here.

Looking at the two of them, rolling around on mats on the ground the woman looked confused, “Uh, is this the fight club? Or did I walk in on something much, much weirder?”


	3. Coincidences or Fate?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marcus and Wrench attempt to get to know their newest members better.

Marcus and Wrench looked up at the strange new woman from the mat, completely aware of the fact they looked like a couple of kids at a tumbling class.

At least Marcus managed to get up and look like an actual adult quickly, rolling to his feet and walked over, “Yeah, uh, hey. I’m Marcus. I’m gonna be honest, we just weren’t expecting anything.”

Sitara shook the hand he extended, “I’m Sitara, that’s Josh.”

Her head nodded towards the man behind her who was still cautiously regarding him and Wrench. Frankly, who could blame the guy. Regardless of his discomfort, Josh still shook Marcus’s hand when offered.

“Well, I’m glad you two showed up because we really thought this was a bust,” Marcus smiled, going for a pat on Josh’s shoulder that he deftly avoided.

“There’s no nice way to put this,” Sitara started, pointing at Wrench, “But, uh, what’s up with the guy in the mask?”

“That’s Wrench and he lives with me but I honestly still couldn’t begin to tell you why he insists on the mask.”

“It’s to make me look cool and mysterious,” Wrench said, winky-facing at Sitara.

Cutting in before Sitara could utter whatever snarky comeback she had lurking under the surface, Marcus addressed the two of them, “So, you’re the first people other than us to actually show up. I know this doesn’t make it sound great but like… why?”

“Well, our reasons for me wanting to fight are… well, we don’t really wanna say,” Sitara replied, “But I can’t really afford actual classes and don’t exactly react well to ‘structure.’ Mostly the second thing.”

“What about him?’ Marcus asked, looking up at Josh, “I was hearing a lot more ‘I’s than I was hearing ‘we’s.”

“Oh, yeah no, Josh is just here because he was worried about me getting murdered in an abandoned warehouse. He’s relatively physically intimidating compared to me also all he does is haul heavy electronics he’s fixed so I’m pretty sure he could kick both your asses.”

“Doesn’t look like the dude’s ever seen a fight,” Marcus sized up Josh.

Speaking up for the first time, “I have. Multiple times. I won them too, don’t underestimate me.”

“Alright, don’t try to fight Josh. Duly noted. You ever fought anyone, Sitara?”

“Kinda,” Sitara wiggled a hand a little, “It was more like a really solid sucker punch a few times and then running away really fast. I was a track star, I can outrun damned near anyone.”

She looked uncomfortable as Wrench walked over and put his arms around her shoulder to bring her further into the warehouse, “I was in nothing and I get winded if I run ten feet so you’re ahead of me.”

Picking his hand up off her shoulder, Sitara looked around, “So, like, what do you guys even do here? Just start fist fighting each other randomly or?”

“Well, for the past few weeks we’ve mostly been imitating stunts from action movies,” Wrench admitted, “But yeah we just kinda fight each other.”

Sitara stared blankly at the oddly set up room, many things clicking into place, “That’s… a plan. I guess.”

Marcus pulled out a chair for Josh, gesturing for him to sit while the other three gathered on the middle of the mats. Wrench looked from one of them to the other, “So, uh, how are we doing this with three people?”

“How about this,” Marcus said, pointing to himself and Wrench, “Sitara, which one of us do you wanna fight?”

“The weirdo,” she smirked.

“Alright, you’re up, Marcus,” Wrench laughed, pushing his friend towards her.

“The weirdo in the mask,” she specified.

“Alright, I’m up,” Wrench said, flashing a ‘\ /’ as he pushed Marcus further. Off the mat.

The two of them stood at a distance from each other. Wrench not really doing much but hunkering down, Sitara clearly imitating a generic fight stance.

Marcus stood off to the side, holding his hand up as he listed the rules, “Alright, no face shots, no genital kicking, no hair pulling. Got it?”

He received two ‘got it’s in returned.

“Three. Two. One. Go!”

He dropped his hand and the two lunged at each other.

\- - -

Sitara had kicked the absolute shit out of Wrench without breaking a sweat.

Even though Sitara had never been in a fight before, Marcus had the suspicion that she’d taken a gymnastics class or two.

She was incredibly fast and able to easily dodge the clumsy blows and attempts to grapple her. Her punches were much less powerful but she was able to land a great deal many of them before eventually managing to trip him and send him toppling to the ground.

All he’d mumbled after his defeat was a ‘shut up’ to Josh, who was very poorly concealing laughter as Sitara went over to him for a high five.

Round two hadn’t gone nearly as well for her though. It took almost to time for Marcus to subdue her. His reaction time was much faster and he could definitely hate a hit better than the scrawny Wrench. An acrobatic kick to the side which would have left Wrench reeling was easily absorbed by Marcus, leg grabbed and dumped unceremoniously on her back.

When she’d waved goodbye after that first night though, Marcus and Wrench honestly thought it was going to be the last time they saw her.

But it wasn’t. She started coming, each and every meeting. Josh always in tow but never joining in.

Although Sitara quickly and easily fit in with them, she was very cagey about what her and Josh’s deal was. Why they were doing this. They’d split the bill on that one.

Wrench tried to annoy an answer out of Sitara when they relaxed but she very much had her walls up, especially with the oddball.

Marcus tried to chill with Josh and get something out of him. That avenue was looking much more hopeful, Josh was a bit friendlier and more open about himself. Marcus had gotten just short of a real answer out of him once, only cut off by Sitara intervening. Presumably intentionally.

They’d doubled down on that, Wrench trying to get him to talk too. Taking turns, they’d sit next to Josh while he quietly did whatever he does on his phone.

That was the one thing he was more protective of. Any questions involving what he was doing on the device in his hands were very quickly shut down

Sitting on their couch at home, they discussed this issue.

Wrench tried to approach it casual, like he wasn’t talking shit while eating garbage he’d made in the microwave, “Do you… trust Sitara and Josh?”

Marcus didn’t really have a good answer to that, “I… don’t know. I want to but I really feel like they’re hiding something from us. I’ve tried to look over Josh’s shoulder but it’s like the dude has a sixth sense for when people are standing behind him.”

“Actually, you’re just really, really noisy when you walk. You know that, right?”

“Really? Fuck, that’s not great. I’m supposed to be sneakin’ in places.”

“I mean, if it makes you feel better I’m crap at sneaking too,” Wrench conceded, “But mine’s just ‘cause, you know, I’m literally covered in metal. I sound like someone throwing a cutlery drawer down the stairs when I run.”

“You know, I honestly don’t know much about you either.”

Wrench only winked at that, the expression not one Marcus had ever seen his actual face do before, “If I tell you too much how will our romance stay erotically charged without the mystery?”

“Love finds a way,” Marcus replied, hand over his heart and leaning on his shoulder to look up at him.

Wrench ignored his base instinct to grab his mask as he blushed bright red at that. Quickly trying to get attention of himself and his quickly beating heart, he brought it up again, “Maybe we should try and get them to just like… hang out with us. Normal and shit.”

“What do normal people do?” Marcus asked, “Because last time I checked, I’m the fucking weirdo who invited a random homeless man to live with him after knowing him for less than twenty-four hours.”

“In your defense, I am an absolute delight,” Wrench bragged with a crooked smile.

“You also sleepwalk and hog the sheets,” Marcus retorted, “And you’re maybe a little too happy to see me in the mornings, sometimes.”

“Hey, I can’t help that and you know that.”

Changing the subject, “But we could invite Sitara and Josh over for a sleepover. Because that’s what adults do. Have sleepovers.”

“You really better hope neither of them sleepwalks too or we’re going to have a very, very awkward night.”

“More like you better hope you don’t cuddle up to Sitara instead of me,” Marcus smirked, “Because I have a feeling she’d be a lot less okay with waking up to you pressed up against her like a bun on a cheeseburger.”

“Frankly, I’m surprised you’re even okay with that,” Wrench quietly admitted.

“To be completely honest, I’ve always hated sleeping alone so I really don’t mind. Maybe I should but I don’t. But Sitara will, so maybe avoid that.”

“I know, I know, cuddle up to you not her so I don’t get my ass kicked again.”

“Also it’d made me really jealous if you did,” Marcus grinned at him mischievously.

Wrench was fairly certain their back-and-forth wasn’t serious but moments like this made him wish they were.

\- - -

Sitara and Josh had seemed skeptical when the idea was first brought up but warmed up to the idea quickly at the promises of enough pizza and beer to make them puke.

Well, Josh hadn’t been as much into the offer of beer but agreeing to buy him his own case of soda turned him around.

A week later they found themselves in Marcus’s apartment.

Looking around, both looked to know more about their impromptu leader and, to a lesser degree, his lackey.

The apartment was decorated with a lot of movie posters, taped up lazily on the wall. Shelves with movies and video games, matching the entertainment center. A huge flatscreen TV. Computer room in the distance, door open just enough for the two visitors to know their friends had some hefty rigs hiding away. Gigantic, cushy couch that looked extremely welcoming.

“So, how long have you been living with Marcus?” Sitara asked Wrench as she collapsed into the soft couch that should be his bed.

“Like a couple months,” Wrench replied, “I was just sleeping in my truck and he wasn’t having any of it, even though he’d pretty much just met me.”

Sitara looked surprised, “I’ve… always assumed you guys have known each other for a long time. You’re so close. How long did you know him before moving in?”

“Little less than twenty-four hours,” Wrench approximated with a noncommittal shrug.

The look Sitara gave Marcus was a mix of about ten emotions, none of them good, “Are you absolutely fucking insane?”

“Yeah, probably,” Marcus owned up, “I know it sounds crazy but I dunno, just felt right in the moment. You showed up to a nerd fight club in an abandoned warehouse off a flyer so I don’t feel like you have a right to judge us.”

“That’s… okay, I can’t really argue against that,” Sitara nodded with a thousand yard stare, “But like… you’ve at least seen his face, right? Please tell me you saw his face before you asked him to move in at least?”

“Yeah, I saw his face before asking him,” Marcus nodded, “I kinda accidentally smashed him on the ground hard enough to knock the breath out of him. It was kind of a ‘take off the mask or suffocate’ situation.”

“Does he… sleep in it?” Sitara asked.

“Standing right here,” Wrench raised his hand, “Don’t like being ignored.”

Turning to him, Sitara crossed her arms, “Alright then, do you sleep in that thing?”

“No, it’s hard to breath in,” he responded with a ‘- -’.

“Damn good thing he doesn’t, don’t wanna wake up with a shoulder full of spikes,” Marcus mumbled to himself.

“What was tha-” Sitara started before being cut off by Josh, examining the half-built laptop on the coffee table.

“Did one of you build this?” he asked, getting as good of a look as he could without touching it.

“Yeah, Wrench has been working on that one for like a week now,” Marcus nodded.

“Found it in a dumpster,” Wrench said, looking proud of himself.

Sitara was regarding the two of them carefully now, “Didn’t… exactly take Wrench as a tech guy. Took him more as a ‘I show up drunk to mosh pits and have nearly been trampled to death multiple times’ kinda guy.”

“Who says I can’t be both?” Wrench retorted with a ‘\ /’.

“Can I look at it closer?” Josh asked, still hovering around the pieces.

A nod from Wrench was all he needed to sit down and pull the disjointed parts onto his lap and start poking around happily. Not even minding that Wrench sat a little too close next to him, pointing at what he was working at. His explanations were unnecessary though as it was immediately obvious that Josh was more knowledgeable than him.

Sitara regarded that suspiciously before pulling Marcus towards the other room after yelling back to them, “We’re gonna get going on ordering that pizza.”

Right before the door closed behind them she heard a curt order for ‘cheese’ and a frantic one for ‘pepperoni.’

But pizza wasn’t what Sitara had on her mind when she backed Marcus up against one of his counters, pointing borderline accusatorily at him, “Are you a computer guy too?”

Holding his hands up, Marcus wide-eyed gave her a once over, “Yes?”

He relaxed as Sitara backed off, pacing back and forth slightly. Mumbling something to herself. Continuing to do this for long enough for Marcus to reach out in concern to stop her.

She grabbed his hand though, “Can I trust you?”

“I… like to think people can trust me, in general, so yes?” Marcus replied, still a little freaked out by her vice grip on his hand.

“I’ve had this suspicion about the two of you for a while now,” Sitara started, still hanging onto his hand, “I’m not eavesdropping but I’ve overheard you guys talk about things when we’re all walking out of the warehouse.”

Marcus tried to recall what he and Wrench have talked about on those nights but he’d never considered whatever they were talking about to be tremendously noteworthy.

But Sitara didn’t leave him guessing as to what they’d slipped, “You guys are hackers too, right?”

\- - -

That night had been a lot of talking most of which had Wrench freaking out about the cosmic implications of all four of them having these same goals.

Turns out that Sitara had been trying to get a Dedsec branch up and running for years but had really only successfully recruited Josh. They were just about to give up and try and do it themselves when they’d come across their flyer and figured learning to fight wouldn’t hurt.

Making their deal, they agreed they’d work together on this.

After that, things had descended into a normal sleepover. Pizza showed up, bad horror movies were played, popcorn was popped.

Eventually they had fallen asleep on the couch like that, falling all over each other. Josh almost perfectly upright, Wrench smushing Marcus against the side, Sitara haphazardly lying across of them with her head on Josh’s lap.

She was the first to wake up, briefly confused as to why she was looking up at Josh before remembering why she was here.

Looking over, she could see Wrench curling as firmly against Marcus as he could. The fact his friend was sleeping through the barrage of spikes in his shoulder was impressive. Also not being awoken by the loud snoring, only muffled slightly by the mask, right next to his ear.

With a smirk, Sitara wondered what was going on between the two of them.


	4. Use Your Nudle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marcus invades Nudle as their groups' first act of defiance but Marcus doesn't come back from the job alone.

“Well, we can’t just stay in one place can we?” Sitara asked.

She looked rather like a kindergarten teacher, Marcus, Wrench and Josh sitting on the mat around her.

They all knew she was right. Carrying on like that had had gone on for months now with no real progress on fighting corruption. They’d had fun but that was about it.

Thankfully, Sitara had a little more drive and direction than the boys.

Marcus rubbed the back of his neck, nodding, “You’re… you’re right. I’m just… look I even know I’m the best man for the job, it’s just nerve wracking. You know?”

“You can handle it,” Sitara replied, leaning over and putting a hand on his shoulder, “You’re more competent than any of us when it comes to this fighting.”

Wrench was uncertain next to him, face flashing a ‘\ /’ at them, “I don’t like it. It’s dangerous and I don’t think Marcus should have to go alone.”

“It’s way more dangerous for us to go in even pairs,” Sitara retorted, “At the very best, one of us lurking outside to help him but even then? We’re increasing the suspicion level if we get seen doing that. Marcus is the most rounded. He’s a smart hacker, he’s decent at fighting, and he’s become very good at sneaking.”

“Yeah, I know, Marcus is my favorite human being in the world and that’s exactly why I don’t want him going in alone!” Wrench retorted.

Sitara rubbed her temples, “He’s a grown man, you don’t need to worry about him.”

“Grown men go to jail,” Wrench blinked another angry face at her.

Marcus cut in, putting a hand on Wrench shoulder, “She’s right though and we all know it. It has to be me.”

\- - -

Despite continued protests from Wrench, it was only a week before Marcus was lurking around the back of Nudle. Hacking into a door.

They’d decided on Nudle as their first hit. Lower security, lower risks.

The door popped open easily, Sitara in his ear instructing him, “Alright, the servers are way back in there and I can’t see all individual people so keep your eyes open.”

“Really? I thought I was just gonna pinata this, you know? Close my eyes and start swinging.”

“Shut up, oh my god,” Sitara said, he could practically hear her eyes rolling, “Just get to the servers, link in, and download. Then get out.”

He could hear Wrench trying to wrestle the headset away from Sitara, yelling something about him being careful, that the getaway vehicle was ready, don’t take any chances. Smiling he nodded, “Alright, all of you calm down. Go dead air for a while so I can get going, I’m gonna have to listen too.”

Everyone mumbled for a second before the headset went silent. Marcus started creeping through the brightly colored building, 

It felt like he was sneaking into a Chuck E. Cheese’s but for adults. He wanted to mock it as a soulless corporate imitation of the frivolity of youth but considering how badly he was restraining himself from going down the slide he probably didn’t have room to talk.

Workers seemed unconcerned with him, a few even glancing at him briefly before looking away again.

He had a bit of a disguise on but not much. Just a polo shirt and khakis, a fashion disaster that was mildly killing him on the inside. But it made him blend in with the real Nudle employees well enough. They didn’t even question him as he slunk away into a back hallway to wander towards his prize.

These hallways were even more sparse in employees. Walking down them, Marcus just had to smile and nod every now and then at someone who constantly reacted neutrally to his presence.

“How’s it going?” Sitara whispered in his ear through the device.

“Shit, if all our jobs are this easy we’ll have every corrupt company shut down in no time,” Marcus replied after a subtle scan of the empty hallway, “No one’s even beginning to question me. Even one looked at my fake ass nametag.”

“Told you it wouldn’t matter if I put ‘Bigdick Thrustslab’ on it!” Wrench spoke up, sounding a bit too far away from the mic.

“That’s still weird, Wrench,” Sitara replied, “Creepy thing to want to name your friend.”

“You just don’t get my art.”

“For the hundredth time, you can’t rebuff all my arguments with that!”

“Watch me!”

“Shh, shut up, shut up,” Marcus said, hearing footsteps in the distance.

He prepared himself to just smile and wave the guy past but this one was different. The second the guy saw Marcus he froze in place, looking him up and down. Swearing in his mind, Marcus prepared himself for his first ever fight.

Sizing up the guy, he wasn’t sure if he could take him. The man was reasonably tall and in adequate shape. Didn’t look terribly imposing though, maybe he’s never been in a fight in his life either. He was a pretty average looking dude, kinda nerdy, short dreads, polo shirt.

Marcus decided to make a power move, just trying to pass the unmoving man with a smile, “Mornin’.”

A hand on his shoulder stopped him as the man addressed him, “Hey, uh, you new here?”

He could tell new people definitely weren’t supposed to be at this level, so Marcus tried to divert, “Just got transferred from another building, they were looking for a new tech guy. Just here to do some work on the servers.”

It was obvious the guy didn’t believe him, grip on his shoulder tighter, “Look, buddy. I’m gonna be completely straight with you. There’s only two other black guys working at Nudle other than me and you ain’t either of them. Kinda look like one of ‘em, but you still ain’t him.”

Well, that explained why everyone else waved him through.

Marcus panicked. He’d been prepared to fight someone but this guy was staying perfect calm. Should he throw a preemptive punch? Wait for the man to make the first move?

“What’re you really doing here, man?” the man asked outright.

\- - -

Outside, Wrench was getting increasingly antsy.

Marcus had gone completely silent after telling them to be quiet and he wasn’t picking back up.

Did he get caught? Was he being carted off in handcuffs right now? Worse, were they hurting him?

His knuckles were going white from gripping the steering wheel too hard. Sitara in his ear, warning him not to do anything brash. He quietly agreed not to do anything but it was absolutely killing him not to run in there and help with whatever the situation was.

This was taking too long. That was all his brain was saying over and over.

But before Wrench could do anything about it, he saw the backdoor swing open finally. Marcus walking calmly out but not alone. Next to him was another guy in a Nudle polo.

The oddest part was, however, that Marcus and the man were chatting amicably as they walked.

One of the backdoors swung open, Marcus climbing into the backseat with the stranger and a casual, “Hey, Wrench.”

“Who the hell is that?” Wrench said, pointing at the new guy as he got right to the point.

Patting the man on the shoulder, Marcus smiled, “This is Horatio. He’s our new recruit.”

\- - -

Marcus considered their return triumphant, coming back not only with the information they needed but another new member.

Wrench, however, was wary of their new guy. Picking him up on their first job just seemed a little… too perfect. How could they know if he wasn’t a trojan horse? Quickly making himself a double agent for Nudle?

It concerned him how casual Marcus was being about this. Going as far as to bring this “Horatio” back with them to the abandoned warehouse.

Sitara seemed to share his concern, looking warily at the new man as he entered their hideaway, “Hey, uh, no offense but who the fuck are you?”

He wasted no time going over and extending a hand to her, “Name’s Horatio, nice to meet you.”

“Uhm I’m... “ Sitara started, not entirely sure if she should come up with a fake name on the spot or not, “I’m… Sitara.”

The second she said it she felt like she should have done that. Damn it, Sitara. Should have renamed yourself something generic. Like Jenny or Suzy.

But Horatio seemed pleasant enough as he went past her to shake a wary Josh’s hand.

“So, Horatio… why are… why’d you come back with Marcus?” Sitara asked.

“Look, long story short, I can’t stand working for these soulless corporate shills. It’s miserable. I started there two years ago and every day just makes me hate it more. It’s all fake and plastic and shitty.”

“How much do you know about Nudle’s shittiness?” Sitara asked.

“Man, not even much more than you probably do but enough to know I don’t like supporting them.”

“This is still one hell of a leap of faith,” Sitara crossed her arms, still unsure, “Forgive my skepticism but you did just decide to follow out a strange man breaking into a multi-billion dollar corporation on what seems to be a whim.”

“I can’t say I blame you for not trusting me,” Horatio shrugged, “But I’ve kind of been waiting for a sign I should leave and I feel like Marcus here might have been that sign. Just… kind of a fate thing, you know?”

Wrench bristled at that, remaining quietly glaring at Horatio behind his mask. Oddly glad for once that his mask didn’t display anything beyond a ‘\ /’ glowing accusatorily towards their new member.

The other four discussed specifics for a while while Wrench stayed out of the way and pouted.

While Sitara and Josh weren’t quite as quick to accept Horatio on his questionable word, they figured he already knew about them. At this point, might as well try to see if this can go somewhere positive.

After being handed a schedule and briefed on what they do there, Horatio just nodded, said he needed to get home to feed his cats, and left.

Everyone else parted ways too, Sitara following Josh to his car and Marcus following Wrench towards his unbelievably shitty truck. The second they were in it, Wrench was already going on and on about his concerns, “Marcus, do you really think this is a good idea?”

“What, bringing Horatio back?” Marcus asked, “Look, I know it’s a lil’ crazy but we had a really good talk while I downloaded the information. Also, he literally stood by and let me do that. It would have been really easy to stop me. By the way, I’ve learned I don’t know what to do if people come at me really polite. Not used to that.”

“Oh, etiquette lessons! I’m great at those,” Wrench said, tapping on the outsides of his steering wheel, “When someone is really polite to you, you just raise both your middle fingers and give them a curt ‘go fuck yourself.’”

“Wow, charm school did you wonders,” Marcus rolled his eyes, “Didn’t it?”

“I was valedictorian in my junior cotillion class,” Wrench said, hand over his heart.

“I highly doubt you’ve ever been in a cotillion class in you life.”

“Hey, you don’t know me,” Wrench replied, “Did it for three years. Hated it.”

Marcus squinted at him, “If that’s even true that is… you’ve lived a weird life.”

“Oh man, you don’t even know the half of it,” Wrench laughed.

“Well, anyways,” Marcus continued, “It stands to be seen how this Horatio thing will pan out but I took you in as my roommate on a whim and that turned out alright.”

“I guess,” Wrench crossed his arms, nearly banging his elbows on the steering wheel, “I just… I don’t know.”

He smiled behind the mask as Marcus reached out and rubbed at his upper arm, “Don’t worry about it, man. I’m sure this’ll turn out alright. Even if Horatio turns out to be a double agent or something we’ll find a way through it. We’re all way too smart for this to fail.”

Marcus ignored the spikes in his shoulder as Wrench rested his head on him, “We start taking turns infiltrating.”

“Alright, alright, if it’ll get you to calm down.”

\- - -

To Marcus’s relief, Horatio began to fit right in with the rest of their little nerd fight club.

It didn’t take long for Sitara and Josh’s concerns to be soothed. Especially considering Horatio was more than happy to cover up that the information had been copied as well as supplying additional information.

Wrench was… a little less quick to trust but it was very transparent why. Horatio was very quickly becoming fast friends with Marcus. He was infinitely more charismatic and likeable than Wrench who was so blatantly jealous that it was amazing Marcus was blind to it.

Sitara and Josh were a bit dumbfounded by it, watching Wrench getting increasingly obnoxious in efforts to get Marcus’s attention.

Today was especially obvious. Marcus and Horatio were sparring, doing something vaguely resembling practical fighting. As close as possible, Wrench was doing his damnedest to do a backflip off the wall.

This was, of course, going spectacularly poorly. However, it was mildly impressive how quickly Wrench was getting back up after landing on the mat like a sack of rocks only to try and fail again.

“How long’s he been at that?” Sitara asked, returning to her seat next to Josh. Handing him a bottle of water as well.

“About ten minutes,” Josh replied, opening the bottle and taking a long drink, “Mildly concerned he’s going to paralyze himself.”

“I think he’ll be fine,” Sitara brushed it off, “He’s resilient. But like… there has to be better ways to get Marcus’s attention. Hey Josh, you’re a boy, why do boys do that dumb shit?”

“Usually a sign of a crush, at this level of effort v. this level of stupidity,” Josh nodded.

“Wait, you really think-”

“I thought it was obvious.”

Leaning back against the chair, Sitara nodded too, “You, uh, wow you have a point. What should we do about that?”

“Nothing? I don’t want to be involved.”

There was quiet for a second, Josh looking over at Sitara who was crossing her arms and avoiding eye contact.

“Sitara, don’t involve yourself either.”

“Josh, you know I’m gonna.”

“Don’t.”

“It’s too late.”

At that, Sitara stood up and dodged Josh grabbing at her sweater.

He sighed as he watched his friend quickly walk over to Wrench, stopping him from trying again. Pulling him off to the side and beginning to talk with him.

This was going to be a mess.


	5. Flight Isn’t An Option Anymore

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sitara tells Wrench that the best way to impress Marcus would be to successfully complete their next mission.

“This is a bribe,” Wrench said, poking at Sitara’s homemade and utterly decadent sundae.

“It is,” Sitara agreed, leaning her head on her hand and looking at him over her own, much more humble sundae, “Because you won’t admit to what I already know.”

“And what are you going to do if I eat all of this and don’t tell you?”

Sitara immediately switched to playing hardball, “I’ll tell Marcus.”

“That’s… that’s cold. Is that why this sundae is so good? Are you an ice witch?”

“Absolutely, now eat your ice cream and talk to me,” Sitara said with a demanding point at the treat in front of him.

He didn’t even need encouragement, happily lifting up his mask enough to shovel the mess into his mouth and talking sloppily through it, “I don’t get why you care if I’ve got a crush on Marcus.”

“Maybe because you’re doing dumber things to try and impress him and I don’t want you to break your fucking neck?”

“Aww, Sitara. You don’t want me to be paralyzed for life. You do care.”

It was a bit jarring for Sitara to see Wrench’s actual smile, mask still pushed up so he could eat. Kinda forgot he had a face under there for a while.

“Look, I just think I can help,” Sitara said, shaking off that weird feeling, “I mean, no offense, but I probably have a lot more experience dating than you.”

“What makes you think that?” Wrench said, pausing with a spoonful of ice cream halfway to his mouth.

“There’s not a nice way to say you’re a weirdo in a mask but, uh, you’re a weirdo in a mask.”

“Alright, that’s fair,” Wrench nodded, shovelling it in, “If you’re so great at making people love you then what’s your advice for if someone is annoying and ugly but they like someone who everyone adores and is handsome? Also he’s smart and funny. And the annoying, ugly one also is clingy and everyone hates him.”  
“Nobody hates you,” Sitara said rolling her eyes before redacting a little, “Okay, maybe someone out there somewhere hates you. But not me or Marcus or Josh or Horatio.”

“So I’m just annoying and ugly and clingy.”

“You’re only mildly annoying, I really can’t say if you're ugly or not considering the whole mask business, you’re pretty clingy though. I can’t really refute that one. But even though you’re kinda one of those things, Schrodinger's Ugly and clingy Marcus doesn’t seem to mind. I mean, you were cuddling up on him really hard at the sleepover and he sincerely didn’t look like cared.”

“That’s… that’s true. I guess.”

“But seriously, none of those things are automatically dealbreakers. Well, maybe for shitty people. But Marcus isn’t a shitty people. If you really want to stick with trying to impress him there’s better ways to do it.”

“Like?” Wrench said, wiggling his spoon at her.

“Well, for starters, you could do the next mission. Do something cool then try to make a move. Also, you do realize you’re still going to have to make a move at some point, right?”

“I know…” Wrench mumbled, staring down into his sundae’s remains, “Not exactly looking forward to that.”

He made a noise of annoyance as Sitara roughly ruffled his hair, “Worst he can say is no.”

“Incorrect, worst he can say is ‘get away from me, you ugly freak.’”

“And he’s not going to say that because Marcus is a good guy.”

\- - -

This job was significantly more risky than Marcus’s infiltration of Nudle.

But, to a degree, Wrench’s affinity for leather and ripped pants was going to help.

The Sons of Ragnarok were somehow in possession of some very delicious knowledge stored in an abandoned warehouse not unlike their own. However, while theirs is by the docks the Ragnarok one is in the middle of the city.

Much harder to sneak in and out of.

This time, they’d figured out how to hack the cameras.

Following Wrench like that, Marcus and Sitara sat over the same phone together to guide him.

“It looks like the warehouse has a few underground layers,” Sitara said, pulling up the floor plan, “Built them themselves. Of course, that’s where the servers are stored. There’s a couple guards that have a key and one of them is constantly leaving them in his bike’s side bag.”

Marcus cut in, “Red bike with gold accents, it’s weirdly gaudy compared to the other bikes. Should stand out.”

“Yeah, I see it,” Wrench said, crouching half-behind a rock, “Liberace’s crotch rocket. More sequin than motorcycle.”

“Alright, sneak over and grab the keys,” Sitara said, “Remember, Horatio is right outside. If you need a quick escape run north as fast as you can.”

“North? Do I look like Christopher Columbus? That asshole?”

Sitara sighed, “Run towards the bridge, okay? That direction.”

“Aye, aye, craptain.”

“I hate you.”

Wrench got quiet as he creeped towards the bike. Looking around, there was no one around at all. Surprising. But he was able to easily fish out the keys and duck back to cover.

Looking towards the warehouse, Wrench started silently sprinting towards it. Ducking to cover the second he got there. But there was still no one. Wrench hadn’t seen a single member of the Sons the Ragnarok.

“Hey, uh, Sitara? You sure this is the place?”

“Yeah, duh? You saw all the bikes.”

“But I don’t see all the people.”

Marcus cut in, “Maybe you just hit a lucky patch, just get in there and get to the servers.”

“Alright…” Wrench mumbled before slinking into the equally empty warehouse. Growing increasingly uneasy about the lack of guards.

Seeing the hatch to the servers already open only made Wrench more nervous, even as he slid down into the underground bunker anyways.

It was spacious down there, quiet electric hum and Wrench’s footsteps the only thing breaking the tense silence. His earpiece was quiet, his friends letting him focus on finding his target. It was easy, the Sons of Ragnarok aren’t a subtle people. Everything was labelled.

Looking around quickly, Wrench crouched and pulled out the device to download the information.

But, just as he was about to plug it in, he was suddenly blindsided by a punch to the head.

Some part of his instincts tried to kick in, knowing they’d badly trained themselves for this. He was dazed though as he stumbled around and tried to prepare himself to fight this stranger.

Seeing double, Wrench tried to size up his opponent.

Through the haze he could tell the guy was significantly bulkier than him, most of his face covered by a cloth mask leaving only his green eyes glaring out at him from under the brim of a baseball cap. Fucking weird jacket.

Mercifully, the man didn’t seem interested in actually fighting him.

Only unplugging his own device from a different server before giving Wrench and his poor fighting stance a pitiful look before climbing back out.

Wrench started regaining his senses he could hear Sitara and Marcus yelling at him. Asking if he was okay.

His answer was garbled before collapsing on the ground.

\- - -

Nothing had ever humiliated Wrench more in his life than being carried back to Marcus’s apartment by Horatio.

He barely said anything to Marcus that night, other than insisting he was okay.

But Marcus knew better.

Especially when he woke up alone the next day.

For a minute, Marcus was worried the damage was more severe than he thought. Bad enough to stop the habitual sleepwalking at least. But when he walked out to the living room, it was obvious that Wrench was just… gone.

Some of his things were still littered around the house but it looked like Wrench had packed up in a hurry.

Looking out, his beat up truck was gone too.

Pulling out his phone, Marcus quickly tried to call him to no avail. Several times.

Giving up, Marcus called Sitara instead.

“Sitara? Look, this is a weird question but is Wrench with you?”

“No? Why?”

“He’s missing.”

Sitara got quiet for a second, “What… what should we do? Did you try to call him?”

“Of course I tried to call him,” Marcus said, forcing himself to sound calm. Or at least try to. But there was evident panic in his voice nonetheless, “Shit, man, he came into my life suddenly and in a weird way, I don’t really want him to leave without a goodbye and still in a weird ass way.”

“We can… we can try and track him down,” Sitara replied, trying to reassure him, “Look, he doesn’t seem like that much of a wanderer. I’d be surprised if he left the San Francisco area.”

Marcus wasn’t nearly as assured of that fact though.

Sitting down, it didn’t take him long to come to the mostly correct conclusion of why Wrench had left.

No shit the dude was embarrassed. They’re spent all that time badly teaching each other to learn how to fight only for Wrench to get one-shotted by some weird rando.

But, if Wrench had stuck around, Marcus could have tried to comfort him with the knowledge that what Horatio had found on his rescue mission was that the mysterious stranger had knocked out or killed every member of the Sons of Ragnarok that were there.

Instead, however, Wrench had simply decided to run.

And Marcus didn’t know where.

\- - -

For a month there was nothing. Not a single sign that Wrench was even still alive.

All four of the other members did everything they could to try and track down their missing fifth to no avail.

Marcus was quickly becoming a wreck. He’d grown accustomed to Wrench so quickly, it was weird to be stuck in his empty apartment. Eating his meals alone. Waking up alone.

It struck him exactly how little he knew about Wrench. He really had no clue where Wrench had come from in the first place, let alone where he’d go now. Shit, the dude lived in his truck. For all Marcus knew, Wrench could have come here on a cross country roadtrip.

Yeah, Marcus could list the man’s favorite Siska movies or his favorite breakfast cereals but as for tangible, useful information? He had nothing.

All Marcus could do was call Wrench’s number and hope he was seeing his attempts.

On midnight of that seventh night, Marcus stared down at the phone in his hand for a long, long time before dialing Wrench’s number again.

Once again there was no answer but this time Marcus left him a voicemail, “Wrench, look, I don’t know if you’re getting my calls or if you disconnected your phone or just… whatever. Everyone’s worried about you. I’m worried about you. Hell, I’m vaguely concerned you’re just lying dead in a ditch somewhere. If… if you’re getting this just give me something, man. I want you to come home but at this point I’d settle for a text just proving you’re alive.”

He paused for a second before continuing.

“I miss you.”

At that, he ended the message.

Not more than a few seconds passed before his text tone went off.

Opening the message he read a text that simply said, “Ok.”

Marcus wasn’t entirely sure what that meant but it was at least Wrench was alive. But was he coming back? That was the real question.

It sounded like he was? Maybe? The ‘okay’ could have been in response to several things.You be to texting him. Could be to coming home. Could be to lying in a ditch, dying.

Of course, he hoped it was the middle one.

That was the one he was banking on.

Over the next forty minutes or so, Marcus worked on a small ‘welcome home’ party just in case. Worst comes to worst, he can turn it into a little pity party. A massive plate of pizza rolls, a Jimmy Siska movie marathon playing in the back.

Sitting on the couch, he popped a roll into his mouth and tried to make himself comfortable.

But hour after hour passed and Wrench failed to show up.

Eventually, Marcus fell asleep on the couch.

\- - -

Waking up as confusing for Marcus, a heavy weight against his side and crushing him into the side of the couch.

It was difficult for him to twist around to take a look at the man curled up against him.

Wrench looked a bit worse for the wear. Heavy bags under his eyes, even more than usual. Extremely sparse, blonde stubble. Hair a complete wreck, sticking out at all angles. Thinner than the last time Marcus had seen him and given he was already a pretty scrawny dude, he was looking pretty unhealthy.

But given the fact the mountain of pizza rolls had shrunk a little, it seemed like Wrench was already eating again.

With some difficulty, Marcus managed to get on his back. An arm around Wrench as he remain collapsed against him, snoring away on his chest. Marcus jostled him a little further, poking at his face with a finger, “Wrench? Wake up.”

Of course, he didn’t. Probably didn’t sleep well in his truck.

Regardless, Marcus continued to try and wake him up.

It took a few minutes, but eventually he lazily blinked his eyes open and looked confused.

Rubbing his shoulder, Marcus sweetly cooed, “So where have you been, asshole?”

“Sleeping in my truck on the outskirts of town,” Wrench sleepily nodded against his chest, “Nearly got into a knife fight with a hobo but I didn’t have a knife so I guess it would have been a little one sided.”

Even though he pretty much knew the answer, Marcus asked anyways, “Why’d you run away? It’s not like we were going to vilify for you for getting your ass kicked once. Hell, that guy’d torn through roughly twenty Sons of Ragnarok before he even got to you.”

Wrench looked surprised at that, “Really?”

“Hell yeah, that’s why you didn’t see any guards. So?”

Looking down, Wrench sighed, “I just… I just failed so hard. Like we did all of this fight club shit and all I could do in a fight was just punched in the head and be too woozy to do anything. And I wanted… just, it was embarrassing.”

“What’d you want?” Marcus asked.

Wrench was quiet for a while before nearly whispering, “I wanted to impress you.”

“You don’t have to impress me, man. You’re already my best friend, you already won the race.”

“But Horatio-”

“Is a good dude. We’re friends too but you’re still my best friend,” Marcus cut him off.

Wrench still looked uncomfortable though, pointedly looking away even though his head was still resting on Marcus’s chest, “I just… really like you.”

“I really like you too, Wrench.”

“I… I mean like in a, you know, romantic sense.”

“Shit, man, me too.”

Wrench jerked his head up at that, “Really?”

“You think think I’d tolerate someone crawling into my bed every single night if I didn’t like you too?” Marcus said, gently pulling Wrench’s head back to look at him, “Not about to let some guy I don’t like like that spoon me for months on end. Morning wood every day. I’m a tolerant man but not that tolerant.”

Face starting to go red as he balled his hand into Marcus’s worn out t-shirt, Wrench was smiling now, “So why didn’t you say anything then?”

“I dunno,” Marcus shrugged, “Didn’t wanna make it awkward. I’ve always been really shit at telling if someone likes me like that because, you know, everyone likes me.”

“Wow, you’re so modest,” Wrench grinned, “I’m remembering why you won me over. How the hell’d an annoying bastard like myself win you over back though?”

“You like all the weird shit I like,” Marcus shrugged, “Mostly people just kinda… laugh off that shit and think I’m doing it ironically. I don’t have to hold back with you. Hell, we even had the same stupid fucking idea to meet up to fist fight a stranger to go on borderline suicidal missions together.”

“Yeah, about that… we’re gonna keep doing that right?”

“What, want another chance to impress me?”

“Maybe,” Wrench smiled, “Maybe I wanna get to fight that weirdo in the mask again.”

“What, you want weirdo in a mask superiority?’

“Oh, abso-fucking-lutely.”

Marcus laughed, “Maybe we hire someone to actually teach us self defense though.”

“That’s… that’s probably a good idea.”

Leaning himself over, Marcus planted a kiss right on Wrench’s lips, “Don’t need to see my boyfriend get beat up again.”

“Oh, something about how my life has gone up until this moment tell me you’re definitely gonna see me get my ass kicked again.”

“Alright, alright, but next time don’t run away okay?”

“Got it, no flight, only fight.”


End file.
